1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for cooking. In particular, the present invention relates to gas grills and smokers.
2. Discussion of Background
Grilling is a popular method of preparing foods and a number of different types of cooking apparatus for grilling and improvements in these apparatus exist. Grilling is often done over burning charcoal; in other cases, grilling is done using a propane gas.
A variety of foods can be grilled, from meats and fish to vegetables. Some foods are best grilled slowly, such as chicken, while others are best grilled at high heat for brief cooking times, such as beef steak. Some foods are grilled with grease or fat added during grilling by basting; other foods contain sufficient fat that none need be added. Still other foods, for example, sausage, contain so much fat that cooking without flare up, charring and burning is difficult.
There have been attempts to improve grills by limiting the amount of flare-up, charring and burning of foods. Concern with this problem can be found in a number of US patents. See for example, my cooking apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,002,113 for effective and efficient cooking without flame or flare up. Also, Berg, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,441, places gas burners to the sides of vertically hung meat to prevent grease from dripping onto the burners. Phelan, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,413,912, has a similar approach, using four burners to the sides of the food being grilled.
Raney (U.S. Pat. No. 3,477,360) offsets the grill from the burners but does so in order to establish a hot plate area directly over the burners.
There remains, however, a need for an efficient, effective cooking apparatus for grilling foods without flare up. Such a device should also be easily controlled and be easily cleaned and safe.